I recently got a call from someone about doing some work for his company. It’s a well-known company, but I didn’t know anyone who works there and I knew nothing about what kind of work culture they had. While I was waiting to arrange an interview time, I visited LinkedIn.com to do some research. I’d like to share a LinkedIn success story, and tell you about a surprise I got about how effectively some kinds of information can travel.
On LinkedIn I quickly found two testers who work at the company. One is three degrees away, and works in the same group I was talking to (I’ll call him Bob). Bob knows someone who knows someone I’ve swapped email with several times but don’t have a close relationship with. Another tester at the company was only two degrees away, and worked in a different group. She is connected to someone I know fairly well, though we are no longer in frequent contact. I sent introductions to both of them on LinkedIn, requesting to ask them a few questions about their company. Then I waited for the request to travel down the chain of connections.
The next day I got an email from Bob, and I was on the phone with him less than 24 hours after sending my request. I had a nice chat with him, and learned some useful information about the company. I also caught up with my connection who had forwarded my request on to Bob’s contact, and got a business lead from him as well. My introduction to the person who was only two degrees away still hasn’t been accepted, proving that the number of hops that someone is away in the network isn’t the only factor in how hard they are to reach.
Fast forward a few days later. I have a phone interview with the manager, and he says “So you’ve already talked to Bob.” I say, “No, this is the first interview.” Wait, I scan my notes and remind myself about Bob. “Oh, yes,” I say, “I contacted Bob a few days ago.” We continued the interview, and though it was a bit unnerving having my talk with Bob apparently being added to the record of the interview process, at least I had demonstrated solid evidence of my networking skills.
Of course, Bob was right to tell his manager that I had contacted him. And luckily, there was nothing I told Bob that I was uncomfortable with his manager hearing.
LinkedIn can be a powerful networking tool, but don’t underestimate how everyone else will use their own network.
Go to source.
Immigrant Entrepreneurs Fuel Growth
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Magnolia
NewsVine
Furl
Google
Yahoo